IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON PINK DOLPHIN IS KILLED FOR FISHING VULTURE CATFISH

[Reproduced from http://www.oeco.org.br/reportagens/28580-matanca-de-botos-mais-quatro-meses-de-agonia]

More than 3,500 pink dolphin (Inia geoffrensis)   will die in the Brazilian Amazon during this second semester, before the beginning of  five-year moratorium imposed by the federal Government on fishing the "piracatinga" (Calophysus macropterus) the vulture catfish or zamurito.

To capture the fish, that feeds on dead animals, fishermen use dolphins, an environmental crime which has been denounced for years.

The estimate was made by Vera Silva biologist of the "INPA-Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia", from fishing data of the Secretariat of Rural Production of Amazonas (Sepror) and searches with fishermen.

According to Vera Silva "Every year, we see in the region of the Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve, the population of pink dolphin decrease 7.5 percent, an unsustainable situation".

Fishermen prefer young dolphins that often not reached reproductive age. 

"A  male pink dolphin takes 10 years to reach reproductive age and the female between 6 and 7 years.

Gestation takes between 11 and 13 months, moreover, the mother breastfeed the baby for two years. The death of young people who haven't even reproduced has a huge impact on the population", Vera Silva says.

To avoid this catastrophe, the "AMPA-Associação Amigos do Peixe-boi da Amazônia"  (Friends of Amazonian Dolphin Association) performs the campaign Red Alert. The intention is to obtain signatures to try to anticipate the piracatinga fishing moratorium in Brazil and also sensitize authorities of Colombia for the problem, since much of this fish species is exported to the neighboring country.